Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
I do not know what pleases my Lord.
O mind — seek out the way.
Guru Arjan starts with an honest sentence: "I do not know what pleases my Lord."
Jaan-o nahee bhaavai kavan baataa means "I don't know which thing pleases Him." This is the rahaa-o line. Rahaa-o means "pause." It is the line you stop on, the center of the whole song.
Think about who is saying this. Guru Arjan gathered the Guru Granth Sahib and built the Harmandir Sahib. He knew the teachings of many paths. And still he starts with "I don't know." That is real humility, the kind that leaves room to learn.
The next lines walk through many ways people try to reach God: quiet sitting, study, fasting, travel to holy places, family life. Each has good people in it. But no path can promise to please the Lord by itself.
Man khoj maarag means "O mind, search for the way." Notice it does not say "here is the way." It gives the mind a job: go and look. It is like a science class that starts with a question instead of the answer.
The search ends in the last lines. There, Guru Arjan does not name a better method. He lets go of all methods and falls at the Guru's feet. The search leads to trust, not to a trick.
What is something important in your life where you have genuinely said 'I don't know' rather than pretending you do? What did that admission open up?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI